AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



789 



once his boyhood days caiue back to 

 hiiu, and he sat down and wrote the 

 article the Doctor tells about. 



On page 492 Mr. D. L. Nelson speaks 

 of queens laying in queen-cells, etc. Has 

 Mr. Nelson any evidence of queens lay- 

 ing in cells prepared by workers to rear 

 queens? Bee-keepers of any experience 

 know that a queen is death to any 

 queen-cell that has a larva, sealed or 

 otherwise, unless guarded. 



Sometimes bees will swarm without 

 any preparation, workers start queens 

 over worker larviB, and also when the 

 queens suddenly die. For proof of the 

 above fact, if one will watch a colony 

 preparing for natural swarming after 

 they complete the cell and prepare it for 

 the egg, they put a thin coating in the 

 bottom resembling honey, then in a short 

 time you will find the egg deposited — Mr. 

 Nelson says by the queen, I say by the 

 bees. Now, who is correct? After bee- 

 keepers experiment on that point, I 

 think they will agree with me. 



Coon Rapids, Iowa, May 1, 1893. 



ISu^arms Occupying' Empty Hivei 

 Put Up in Trees. 



Writte7i for the American Bee Joumdl 

 BY C. H. ECKLES. 



I would like to give a little of my experi- 

 ence on the matter of bees occupying 

 empty hives. Having often seen the 

 statement that bees would come to 

 empty hives put in trees, I determined 

 to try the experiment. In May, 1892, 

 I had 11 empty hives that I had no use 

 for, also a number of old empty combs. 

 I took these hives, putting in five combs 

 in each, a space of two inches being left 

 between each to prevent the moths 

 working. 



Ten of the hives were put in trees, 

 most of them fastened to the lower 

 branches of pines and elms. The bees 

 soon found them, and before night of 

 the day the hives wfere placed in the 

 trees, two of them contained large 

 swarms, and during the next few weeks 

 four more of the hives were filled with 

 fairly good swarms. 



In each case it was noticed several 

 hours before the swarm arrived, that 

 the hive was occupied by a few bees, 

 perhaps a large handful, that were 

 working industriously carrying out the 

 dirt from the combs, and cleaning the 

 hive in general. By the time the swarm 

 arrived, the hive would be all prepared, 

 and the scouts be hanging in a cluster 



hives put up were 

 by a few bees that 

 from the combs as 



on one of the combs. In each case the 

 swarm immediately went to work, and 

 all stored sufficient honey to keep them 

 over winter. 



Three of the other 

 taken possession of 

 cleaned out the dirt 



those did where the swarms came. 

 These few bees usually stayed about the 

 hive for two weeks or more, being very 

 cross to any one who molested them. The 

 supposition is that these were scouting 

 parties sent out by the swarm which, 

 however, was captured and hived before 

 reaching its destination. 



These all, as far as were known, came 

 from neighbors' apiaries. We had at 

 that time 20 colonies of hybrids, which 

 were near the trees containing the hives. 

 The swarms which occupied the hives 

 were all blacks, and thus we were able 

 to distinguish them from our hybrids. 



One reason why hives are filled so 

 readily by escaping swarms, is the lack 

 of hollow trees in which they could find 

 a home. Here in the center of Iowa are 

 but very few trees that would afford a 

 lodging place for a swarm, and conse- 

 quently they must find homes in the 

 sides of houses, or in empty hives. 



Ames, Iowa. 



Samaiitba at Saratoga.— One 



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 and the Balm of Gilead in the other. 

 Her personality is intense, her genius 

 immense, her art perfect. She stands 

 alone in her chosen sphere without a 

 rival." 



Read our great offer of this book free, 

 on page 773 of this copy of the Bee 

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